The Food Medic - E1 Ask Dr Hazel: Are protein shakes bad for me?

Episode Date: July 4, 2022

Hey team, and welcome back to Ask Dr Hazel, our mini episodes that drop each week.This week we cover protein shakes and whether they’re good for you despite all the additives, flavourings and sweeteners added to make them taste like chocolate etc?Thank you to everyone who has sent in questions already and if you would like to submit a question to the podcast - on any topic related to health, fitness, nutrition, or mindset - please send your voice recorded question to [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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exclusions and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. Hey team and welcome back to Ask Dr. Hazel, our mini episode series that will be dropping throughout this season just like the last. I'm your host, Dr. Hazel, and I'll be answering all your burning questions. Thank you to everyone who submitted your questions already and if you would like to submit a question to the podcast for your chance to be featured please send your voice recorded questions to lindsay at thefoodmedic.co.uk Okay so let's hear from today's listener question. Hi Food Medic team, my question is are protein shakes good for you despite all of the additives,

sweeteners and flavourings put into them to make them taste like chocolate and salted caramel and all sorts of things like that? Okay, so are protein shakes good for you? Now, protein shakes are neither good nor bad for you. It really depends on whether you need them or not. So the truth is that very few people need protein shakes in their diet and usually a well-balanced diet will be enough to get all the protein that you need. So just to chat a little bit about protein powders they're usually made of whey protein, casein, egg, soya or another plant-based protein such as pea, brown rice and hemp or sometimes there's a combination of these. Now most of the research that we have has been done on whey protein and that's from milk

and there's lots of really good evidence that this can be effective in supporting muscle growth following exercise. That said it's highly likely that eating enough good quality protein after you exercise will offer similar gains or benefits. Whole protein sources not only provide you with protein, but other nutrients that may support muscle growth and repair. So if you're already hitting your protein needs, and for reference, this is 1.2 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which I know sounds like a lot of numbers. And I don't expect you to be counting the grams of protein that you're eating. But it's about 20 to 25 grams of protein per meal, so a good sized portion per meal. And if you're doing that, then

you shouldn't really need any supplements. So if you don't want to shell out on cash for supplements, there are lots of high protein foods like meat and dairy, eggs, soy based foods like tofu and tempeh, and pulses, beans, lentils and chickpeas. That said, I think that protein supplements can be useful if you have higher protein needs. So for example, if you have really high activity levels, going to the gym all the time or competing, or if you're struggling to meet your protein needs due to a restricted diet or maybe you just find that protein supplements are convenient for you and you enjoy the taste and that's absolutely fine so do your research and find one that you enjoy most of them will have sweeteners flavorings and other additives in them to make them more palatable and that's kind of across

the board so it's to be expected i think it's always a good idea to be mindful of what's in the supplement you choose as ideally you want to pick one that doesn't have too many add-ins but that said these ingredients while they may not necessarily be health promoting are also unlikely to be harmful and we can find them in many other food products that we consume on a daily basis. Trust me, I've had unflavored protein before and I certainly wouldn't recommend, but you can get protein powders that have a minimal list of ingredients

and you can always flavor them at home with frozen berries, bananas, cacao and things like that. So your takeaway is protein supplements aren't bad for you, but they may not be essential for you either. Hopefully that answers your question. Thank you again for sending in your questions and sending in an audio file. I know it's not always the most comfortable thing to do,

but if you do want to submit a question to anyone who is listening, don't forget to send them in to lindsay at thefoodmedic.co.uk for your chance to be featured.